Sermons on important subjects by Rev. Paul C. Jong

Mankindís Thoughts Are Like Fog

< Genesis 2:4-6 >

ďThis is the history of the heavens and the earth
when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth
and the heavens, before any plant of the field was in the earth
and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had
not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till
the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole
face of the ground.Ē

We all live everyday by Godís guidance and grace.
We feed on new spiritual bread everyday, and I am very happy to
share it with you.

In todayís Scripture passage, our Lord said, ďBefore
any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the
field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the
earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went
up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.Ē

Why did God say that ďthere was no man to till the
ground,Ē even as He had said that He created the heavens and the
earth and man on the sixth day? Where did the man go then? We need
to realize here in todayís Scripture passage that God, who is absolutely
good, wants to reveal His good will toward us.

The ground in this passage means our hearts. He who
is to till our hearts is Jesus Christ alone, who came as the incarnated
Word. Godís Word, moreover, brings rain on our fields, plows them,
and yields such hearts of faith that can serve the God of absolute
goodness. Before Jesus Christ came to our human realm, God wanted
to plow the fields of our hearts. At the beginning, there was only
mist on the ground. The earth or ground refers to the human heart.
Therefore, the passage ďA mist went up from the earth and watered
the whole face of the groundĒ symbolizes the state of the hearts
of those who donít have Jesus Christ. In other words, the hearts
of those who are not yet born again are filled with only their own
thoughts.

Before the Word of the Lord came to us, our hearts
had been filled with our own thoughts. When one does not truly know
the Lordís Word, he cannot know anything about even his own sins,
nor can he know what the Truth is. He is completely oblivious as
to who he is as a human being, where he came from, where he is heading,
what is the meaning of his existence, what his sins are, what is
the righteousness of God, nor what His judgment is. Therefore, we
should first look at the written Word, and from this Word realize
how absolutely evil mankind is, and how our thoughts are different
from Godís thoughts.

You Must Know Just How Useless
Mankindís Thoughts Are

It is written, ďBefore any herb of the field had
grownÖ a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face
of the ground.Ē This points out the very fact that our hearts
are filled with wickedness. Human beings came to stand against God
because of their thoughts arising from their hearts. However, our
Lord, who tills the heart, plows and turns over mankindís thoughts
that rise from the wet ground, thus shaping it into a useful field
where plants and trees can grow. Just as fog is absolutely useless
to crops, mankindís thoughts are blocking Godsí good plan and His
Truth from entering its heart. We need to realize that our human
thoughts can bring absolutely no benefit to us. Only Jesus Christ
has made it possible for the field of the human heart, which has
nothing but evil, to yield useful plants and trees, all by plowing
and turning over mankindís absolute wickedness.

Without the Lord to till the human heart, it is impossible
for people to cultivate the fields of their hearts. In this world,
there is no one but only Jesus Christ who can truly plow and turn
over the human hearts and expose their absolute wickedness. By nature,
every human being was born with absolute wickedness. For such completely
evil human beings, the fields of their hearts were stony and filled
with all kinds of filth, but our Lord, who is absolutely good, came
and cultivated their hearts, turning them into useful fields.

Some people like fog for its mystic and romantic feeling,
but it really is bad for the health of their respiratory organs.
Likewise, your fog-like thoughts are never good for your spiritual
health. Youíve probably experienced for yourselves how useless thoughts
tend to arise in your minds like fog when you are sitting at home
alone. We have to realize that our own thoughts are absolutely evil.
It is only if Jesus comes to this earth, brings rain on our hearts
and cultivates them, that such useful things as plants and trees
can grow from then on. However, those who do not admit the total
wretchedness of their man-made thoughts, and do not believe in the
absolute goodness of God, cannot return to the God-given gospel,
the gospel through which one is born of water and the Spirit. I
admonish you all to realize this.

We Must Escape from Our Own
Thoughts

Philosophers speak their own thoughts. But they have
failed to provide mankind with any real solution or benefit. What
philosophers say is nothing more than a hypothesis. So their claims
have not actually saved people, whose thoughts are absolutely evil,
nor have they led them to the genuine gospel. In other words, teachings
stemming from mankindís thoughts cannot bring any benefit whatsoever
to anyone at all.

All the man-made thoughts arising from those who have
not been born again do nothing but lead people astray and obstruct
them from being born again. These people do not want to know what
Jesusí gospel of the water and the Spirit is, nor do they believe
in it even when it is preached to them. What comes out of such people
ultimately becomes the instrument of their own destruction. In its
own thoughts, mankind invented dynamites and developed nuclear energy
to put into good use, but now, these inventions are actually being
used to destroy mankind itself. Like this, we need to realize that
oneís own thoughts arising from his heart cannot benefit him but
only harm him.

A life of faith can be initiated only when one first
denies his own thoughts. Put differently, a proper life of faith
is to follow the Word of God after escaping from oneís own thoughts.
Godís Word is power and life. When God created the heavens and the
earth, whatever He commanded to let there be, it all came to exist
exactly as He commanded.

Jesus said, ďI am the true vine, and My Father is
the vinedresser.Ē Itís because our hearts are dwelt by Jesus Christ,
the Farmer who cultivates the fields of our hearts, that from then
on, the Word of Truth began to rain down on us and plants began
to grow. As we read the Word of God and learned it, and as we threw
out our own thoughts and accepted and believed in Godís Word, we
came to know God little by little.

Fundamentally speaking, mankind had lived without
giving any thoughts to Godís plan and His will. Being absolutely
evil, we only had thoughts that would actually hurt us. Itís akin
to fog being harmful to peopleís health. So it was when we accepted
only Godís absolute goodness and believed in it—that is, when
we accepted the Word of God—that we finally benefited. If
your minds are now all cluttered, this can only mean that you do
not really believe in Godís Word and think according to it, but
you are actually following your own thoughts without even realizing
how your thoughts are absolutely evil.

The thoughts of the flesh can bring no benefit whatsoever
in the end. Oneís own thoughts only result in trouble and worsen
the problem. When human beings, who are all absolutely evil, fall
into their own thoughts, they invariably get into deep trouble,
and so they slip into a slump, making and scrapping plans on their
own, and building and destroying castles all by themselves—in
the end, they are unable to believe in Jesus, thus heading straight
to hell. Anyone who does not know how to live by faith is inevitably
bound to walk on the way of destruction like this.

Can oneís own thoughts benefit him? No, they cannot.
On the contrary, it is the Word of God that brings salvation to
mankind, gives everlasting life, solves its problems, and bestows
blessings. Herein lies the reason why mankind must escape from its
evil thoughts.

It is only our Lord who is to truly till the field
of our hearts. As we receive the Lord into our hearts, as we know
His Word, and as we believe in this Word, it is from then on that
the fields of our hearts are plowed and turned over. Stones are
removed, the field is fertilized, and then our egos are broken down,
just as lumps of earth are broken down. After this, only the seed
of the Word of God must be sown in our hearts. Godís Word must come
into our human hearts unadulterated, exactly as it is, and we must
hold onto this Word and believe in it in all its purity. Only then
does Jesus Christ work in our hearts.

It is God who is to cultivate our hearts, and it is
also God who works in them. None other than Jesus Christ is the
Lord of mankind and its Shepherd. Nothing that came out of manís
head can ever cultivate his totally depraved heart—no book
in this world, no human philosophy, no Christian doctrine, no religion
whatsoever can ever do this. Who, then, makes our hearts blessed,
even though our thoughts are totally evil? It is none other than
Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible is the Word of Truth spoken by
the Lord. When we rely on the written Word of the Lord, from then
on, our Lord begins to cultivate our hearts and makes us yield plants,
trees, flowers, and fruits.

There is nothing else that can till the human heart
but only Godís pure Word of the Scriptures. Only this Word of the
Scriptures can till the human heart, and only Jesus Christ, our
Lord and the King of kings, can truly cultivate our hearts. Do you
believe that the Bible itself is Godís absolute goodness?

When we turn to the Book of Acts, we see it saying,
ďThese were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that
they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures
daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore many of
them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women
as well as men (Acts 17:11-12). When Paul and Silas went into
the synagogue of Jews in Berea, they found some fair-minded people
there. It says here that the people in Berea received the Word with
all readiness. We need to examine ourselves to see whether or not
we are indeed like these people. The hearts of those who are ruled
and tilled by the Lord are precisely such hearts.

Fair-minded believers accept the Word of God into
the fields of their hearts with a yes, if it is indeed Godís Word.
Such people make sure to verify what the Word actually says; are
ruled by God through faith; turn many people back to God; become
workers before the Lord; follow Him by faith and obey Him by faith;
and are made into Godís true servants.

Those whose hearts have been tiled by the Lord contemplate
deeply on what Godís Word actually says, and they singularly focus
on faith in the Lordís Word. They are never bound by their own evil
thoughts, but they cast them aside and adjust themselves to the
Word of God. It is such people who are tiled by the Lord.

If there is a tiller, then what is its result? The
field yields trees and plants. When we accept Godís absolute goodness
into our totally depraved hearts, then from this moment on, our
hearts, which now believe in Godís absolute goodness, begin to yield
plants, blossom flowers, and grow trees of faith. The fields of
our hearts come to produce edible plants for God.

My fellow believers, it is our Lord who is to till
our hearts that are absolutely evil. Therefore, we must entrust
ourselves to the Lord, and our hearts must be ruled by His Word.
It is my sincerest hope and desire that you would all cast aside
your own thoughts, believe in the Word of God, hold onto it and
obey it, and thus be tilled by the Lord for His precious work. Our
Lord will then cultivate the fields of our hearts freely, you will
become workers truly fitting to Godís good work, and we will see
God alone glorified.